


Only When You Leave

by cophinecloning



Category: The Fall (TV)
Genre: Angst??, F/F, fluff????, i'm rubbish at tagging i'm so sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 21:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3912037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cophinecloning/pseuds/cophinecloning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Standing in the lobby, the numbers on the lift display seemed to tick down implausibly slowly, each floor counting innumerable heartbeats, and a lifetime until it reached the ground floor. As the second floor flashed onto the panel, Stella pictured Room 203."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only When You Leave

Stella smiled; it wasn’t the usual way she organized her ‘sweet nights’ but seemed to have worked to the same effect. The hotel bar was enchanting – the sultry piano music, the bitter taste of the Margaritas, the surprised yet not unwelcoming look in Reed’s eyes after Stella decided on an impromptu… greeting. Standing in the lobby, the numbers on the lift display seemed to tick down implausibly slowly, each floor counting innumerable heartbeats, and a lifetime until it reached the ground floor. As the second floor flashed onto the panel, Stella pictured Room 203. She imagined her hands fumbling with the key card to open the door, a failed attempt to switch on the lights and eventually hurriedly slipping off of her heels and jacket all while being pushed towards the bed. 

The familiar clacking of heels on the tile floor approaching the hall was the first and only interruption of her thoughts since pushing the lift button. Was it seconds or minutes that Stella had been unaware of her surroundings?

“So what do you call that then, hmm?” Reed whispered, approaching Stella’s left shoulder. 

“Improvisation,” Stella retorted, her voice slightly husky from the intoxication of the drinks and Reed’s presence. The lift doors slid open, their appearance announced by a calm female voice, and both women edged into the small, mirrored room. Reed turned and placed her hand to the buttons and waited for an indication from Stella of where they would be headed.

“Second floor.” Not being in control generally made Stella uncomfortable, but with Reed it was alluring. _Perhaps like chess_ , she thought, both of them taking calculated risks interpreting the other’s actions and weighing up possible intentions. _Maybe like a dance_ , being led and then taking the lead in quick succession, in close proximity, with uneven breathing. Usually Stella was able to read people’s expressions and body language – her experiences working with dangerous criminals, and unfortunately the familiarities of being a powerful woman in a typically male workplace, had given her an unusually effective gauge of emotional understanding. Having supposed that Reed’s compartmentalisation of different selves made it hard to second-guess her away from her work persona, Stella moved towards the door in order to get a better look at Reed’s face. Her back to the doors, Stella realized that the piano music still drifted through the hall as clearly as it had been for the past minute. Reed hadn’t selected any of the buttons.

“I’m sorry, Stella. I can’t do this,” she explained “I can’t be impulsive like you can. I’m sorry.” Reed slipped out of the lift doors a short while before they started to close. Stella followed and forced her way past them back to the tiled floor leading back to the bar. Reed’s footsteps could be heard echoing back down the corridor from the direction of the main exit. As Stella exhaled heavily, the click of the closing, and therefore also ascending, lift doors were heard. _Shit._ Not only had she been stranded by Reed, but also by the elevator that could take her back to her room; away from the concept of having company for the night, and away from the potential lure of wine or something stronger.

Pressing her manicured nails to the same metal button for the second time that evening, she laid her head back on the metal paneling on the wall. Her perfectly curled blonde hair slipped from resting beside her face to lying gently on her shoulders. The cool touch of the metal against the heated nape of Stella’s neck provided a sharp yet almost comforting physical numbness that helped her focus her thoughts onto anything other than the memory of the kiss that she and Reed had shared in the bar minutes earlier, and the painful conversation that followed. _I need to focus, to swim, to do something._

A muffled thump was heard in the distance. _Probably someone dropping off their luggage_ , Stella thought as she surveyed the hallway. A slow and soft pad of feet on marble could be heard approaching from the distant corridor from the lobby. Stella turned away, intent to shield herself from any foreseeable interaction with strangers. The easy gait of the footfalls indicated that it was clearly a woman, though why the steps shouldn’t make more of a noise was ambiguous. It was only eight o’clock – _surely someone couldn’t have gotten so drunk so early in the night_. The footsteps slowed and stopped a short distance behind Stella.

“I’m sorry,” a voice said meekly, “I got outside and realised that more than anything I just wanted to be back with you.” Stella turned to face Reed. An expression of pure reverence lit Reed’s whole face, as if to silently apologise to Stella at a deeper level than her spoken confession.

“Well, to quote Spandau Ballet, I’m just another fool enough to need you.” Reed spoke, a smile creeping across her lips.

“So give a little passion to a stranger?” suggested Stella.

“I’d rather respond to an invitation from someone I know” Reed intimated, a laugh echoing down the hallway as she looked around.

Reed turned Stella gently around to lean her on the metal doors of the lift and planted a soft yet searching kiss on her lips. As Stella went to respond to Reed’s delicate initiation, the doors slid open behind her causing both women to rather ungracefully topple headfirst into the empty lift. 

“Well that’s going to leave a mark in the morning,” Stella laughed, half-amused and half-wincing from the impact of having landed on a hard floor along with the weight of another fully grown, yet small-framed, woman on top of her.

“Not the first time that’s happened I suppose, DSI Gibson?” Reed quipped in response, partly having wanted to shift the attention from her precariously positioned legs and reddening cheeks.

“Well, no… Certainly the first time it’s been caused by a lift. Probably not the last.” Stella paused for a second before cocking her head slightly and raising an eyebrow. “The shoes? You sounded different walking back.”

Reed held up her shoes, one of them looking desperately worse for wear with a heel hanging off. “Broke as I ran back in the door.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is pretty much my first foray into writing at all, let alone fanfic... There are probably glaring mistakes to fix, please feel free to suggest improvements!
> 
> I can also be found at cophinecloning.tumblr.com so come say hi if you want!


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